State of Reality
by shannyfish
Summary: Calleigh must come to grips with the loss of another member of the team, but in the process is faced with losing her own life...
1. haunting

**Title:** State of Reality  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "CSI: Miami" or its characters, CBS does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** Calleigh must come to grips with the loss of another member of the team, but in the process is faced with losing her own life...  
**Warning:** character death; possible spoilers for season (you never know for sure if the spoilers you read are actually true)

**Chapter 1 – "Haunting"**

**Author's Note: **First off, this is what happens when I read spoilers...they get into my head and weave their own storyline. So, I blame them for this.Plus, if I don't get the story out of my head, it just starts to drive me nuts and then I can't be anywhere near productive.This is a newwriting style with the POV that I'm using for Miami at least. As always, constructive criticism is always welcome.

.........................

"_It's always darkest before the dawn" – Proverb_

**Dade Memorial Hospital**

She was losing everyone...or at least that was what it felt like. The doctor's words had pushed her to the point of not being able to truly absorbing what had been said. She remembered so clearly her dear friend, Timothy Speedle, and the funeral she stood at years before... There was going to be another funeral. Another one of Miami-Dade's finest had gone down again.

Eric had gone into surgery to have the bullet removed from his brain. He hadn't made it. Eric Delko was not coming back.

Those had been the sentiments that the doctor had conveyed and suddenly her brain absorbed it and she couldn't stop the sobs or the tears rolling down her face. It felt like a part of her had been ripped from her. She felt arms around her, but she felt no comfort. She couldn't see who it was, her eyes were blurring with her tears.

"I'm so sorry, Baby."

She recognized the voice. Lifting her hand, she wiped her tears from her face. She looked up at Alexx. It had been a few months since she'd seen her friend. It was still odd with having Doctor Alexx Woods with their CSI team. Calleigh let her head drop back down and she stared at her hands, her hair dropped down around her face. "I gave them permission to do the operation," Calleigh said softly.

"It was the right decision, Baby," Alexx said in a soothing voice. "Even if it doesn't feel like it right now, it was the right one. What else could you have done?"

"I told him that I'd be here when he woke up," she whispered as tears fell once again. She felt Alexx's arms pull her close and hold her tightly. She let her head fall against Alexx's shoulder.

"Shhh..." Alexx whispered.

It felt like they were quiet there for a long time. Hours maybe. Calleigh finally looked up and found that the others from the lab. Ryan and Natalia were at a set of chairs in one spot, Horatio was standing by the doorway with his head down, and Frank standing facing Horatio.

.............................

**Three Days Later...**

**Ballistics**

**Miami-Dade Crime Lab**

Calleigh hadn't taken much time off. Horatio had told her to take as much time as she needed. Though she had Eric had tried to keep their relationship a secret, it seemed like nothing could ever remain a secret there. Horatio knew. Ryan knew. Natalia knew. Frank knew. Alexx knew and she hadn't even been with them for a while...

She'd taken a day.

She'd been back for two.

It wasn't the same, but had it ever been the same? She found herself not even wanting to step into ballistics, but when she finally did she felt a bit better. Calleigh had always thought that people felt better in the departments in which they excelled at. Hers was ballistics. Calleigh didn't feel as comforted as she thought she might.

There were too many ghosts in the building.

Calleigh stared at the collection of guns as she tried desperately to feel like she was back in the saddle as they said. She didn't. She wanted to. She didn't. Calleigh let out a sigh and then brought her hands up to her face. She rubbed it and tried to think positive thoughts.

"You should sleep."

"I'm fine."

Calleigh turned to Horatio who was standing at her doorway. He'd yet to actually enter the area in which she currently stood. His head was slightly tilted to one side and he seemed worried. He'd let her have two days and now he was checking up on her. She appreciated it, all of it, but she still didn't feel like it was necessary. She was fine.

Fine...

"If you're not ready—"

"It's not that," Calleigh told him. She looked back at the guns and started to recite the name and caliber of each one in her head as she heard Horatio's footsteps. He wasn't going to drop it. She hadn't expected him to. It wasn't what Horatio did. He was caring and he tried to take care of his people.

It seemed like it had been quite a long time since Horatio had stepped foot in her lab. She was sure it hadn't been, but it felt like that. As the team had changed and grown, she and Horatio hadn't worked so closely together. They were the two most senior members of the team, it was natural that Horatio would need to focus his attention on others: Ryan and Natalia. Eric had even needed his extra support as he'd tried to come back after being shot before.

Eric.

Calleigh felt a flood of sadness overwhelm her. She continued with the silent recitation of the types of guns in the locker in front of her. It helped. She doubted that when Horatio got closer and looked at her that he wouldn't see the sadness. How could he miss it? She didn't think though that it stopped her from doing her job. Everyone grieved differently and she just generally wasn't someone to sit on the sidelines. She couldn't sit home and just cry. That wasn't her.

"Talk to me," Horatio said quietly.

She'd noticed his proximity to her. Horatio had moved from outside of the locker and was now just inches from her. She turned her head to look at him. "Do you ever feel like there are just too many ghosts?" she asked.

It took Calleigh a moment to realize it, but she sounded like someone from the south...from Louisiana even. It was where she was from anyways, so she didn't really mind it. Ghosts and voodoo were all fair course for that area, but Calleigh wasn't sure if she really meant actually ghosts that haunted her. It was a sad thing that she wasn't even sure what she meant. How could she not even know? Calleigh wasn't sure. It felt odd to feel so unsure.

"We've lost a lot of people..."

"Too many," Calleigh told him. She stared into his blue eyes as she tried to convey what she meant even though she didn't feel like she was expressing it correctly orally. "We've lost people...but we've also lost them because of the job."

"Like Alexx?"

"Alexx and Megan."

"Eric and Marisol," Horatio said.

He looked down for a moment before looking back up at her. She knew that out of everyone else that it had been hardest on them. They'd worked with Eric the longest, she loved Eric, and Eric was technically Horatio's brother...even with Marisol gone, Horatio would honor that bond. It was how he was.

"I like to think that they're together now."

Calleigh nodded in agreement.

"Speed," Calleigh said.

"Hagen."

The name was barely audible. Calleigh nodded again and dropped her head, her eyes filling with tears. She wondered if that was why she felt the ghosts. John Hagen had killed himself in her ballistics lab. It hadn't been something that had been easy to deal with, but she'd dealt with that long ago. She'd come to terms with what he'd done.

His arms wrapped around her and pulled her to his chest. Calleigh wanted to tell him that she was fine, but instead she wrapped her arms around him and allowed herself to cry into his chest. She felt his head against her hair, and she found herself not wanting to move from his comforting arms. They'd shared a hug like this before, when Speedle had died. No matter what happened, Horatio was there.

"I don't know if I can do this Horatio," Calleigh whispered honestly as she looked up at him.

"Sometimes I'm not sure I can either."

"Too many good people," Calleigh told him. "It just seems too hard to deal with. I feel silly that I don't seem to be able to function correctly in my lab."

"You need time, Calleigh," Horatio told her. "Take time and then come back. If you still don't feel like you can do it then, then you'll know that it's not your place here anymore."

"What about you?"

"I'm just taking it one day at a time."

"You need the time, too," Calleigh told him.

"After tomorrow, I'll decide," Horatio said.

Tomorrow.

It felt like some sort of sentence. It wasn't. Tomorrow was the funeral. Calleigh felt like she'd been to enough of them. She wished that there was some way to pay her respects without going. She couldn't do it. Eric's mother had talked to her about speaking at the funeral, but Calleigh found herself unsure if she'd be able to keep herself together in order to do so. It was one thing to stand there, but it was another to talk about Eric.

She couldn't do it.

Horatio was speaking, she knew that. Horatio was a good choice, he'd do Eric's memory justice and he'd speak from his heart. She just couldn't. She knew that if she tried that she'd completely break down. Calleigh didn't want to be a hysterical mess at his funeral. She wanted to be there to honor his memory. She'd stand with Horatio, Alexx, Frank, and the others as they honored his memory. She'd take strength from them. She'd take comfort in the fact that Eric hadn't suffered.

The ring of Horatio's cell phone broke the silence and Calleigh found herself turning from him in a pathetic effort to give him some privacy.

"I see. No, stay right where you are. Don't move!" Horatio said forcefully into the phone. "Back-up's on the way."

"What's wrong?" Calleigh asked turning back around to see Horatio stashing his phone back into his jacket.

"Ryan and Natalia are at a crime scene. They're being fired on. Ryan said that he tried to call for back-up, but that the line keeps ringing busy," Horatio explained.

"I'm coming," Calleigh decided quickly.

"Calleigh—"

"I'm not going to another funeral, Horatio."

..................................

**En Route to the Crime Scene**

She'd been able to get a hold of Frank while Horatio had driven. The dispatch center was down; even the 911 calls weren't going through. They had just patched it, so that they would be immediately be directed to one of the mobile command centers in which they'd moved their dispatchers to.

Frank was on his way with a couple of units, but they were behind them. Calleigh didn't feel like they could get there fast enough. Every minute felt like five. It felt like time was slipping away and that Ryan and Natalia weren't going to have any chance.

Hope was fading.

"Frank doesn't know what happened to the units that were called to the scene," Calleigh told him.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they'd been called away," Horatio said.

Calleigh nodded and thought about it. She could see Ryan and Natalia seeing the crime scene as secure and saying that they'd be fine. After all, it wasn't like they weren't protected. Ryan and Natalia both passed firearms training and carried in the field.

"We're almost there," Calleigh said, mostly to herself. She was trying to calm her nerves.

In a mere matter of minutes, they were at the scene that Ryan and Natalia had been dispatched to. They both got out of the Hummer carefully and cautiously, weapons already drawn. They approached the house and looked about to figure out which way in was the best for them to take.

"Back gate," Calleigh whispered. It had seemed like the entrance that had been used before. There was some dirt that had been tracked back and forth from what she could assume was the backyard and then up through the fence. They'd had a good deal of rain for the week and wouldn't be surprised if the back was still muddy.

Horatio nodded and motioned for her to standby and cover him if need be as he reached for the closed gate. Gun shots rang through the air and they spared no time getting into the backyard. They kept tight to the side of the house as they tried to establish where the shots where coming from and where their people were.

"There."

Calleigh nodded when she saw what Horatio had. Ryan and Natalia were pinned down behind what looked like a palate of cement bags. At least it was pretty good cover, Calleigh thought as they waited for their opening. They couldn't see the attacker, but could tell that the shots were coming from one of the windows in the house.

"You ready?" Horatio asked her.

She nodded again. She knew that Frank would be there soon enough with their back-up. Right now, they needed to get Ryan and Natalia out of there, which meant trying not to get anyone shot, while they tried to get them out.

"I'll cover you," Calleigh told him.

They moved from their hiding place, Calleigh firing towards where the shots were coming from, trying to make sure that whoever was firing stayed down long enough for Horatio to get to the safety of the palette. She was almost there when Horatio started to fire to give her the chance to get over to where the others were. Shots from the house rang out, but she made it to the cramped safety.

"Are you both okay?" Calleigh asked. She had assumed that Horatio hadn't had the time as of yet.

"Natalia's shot," Ryan volunteered.

"It's not bad," Natalia said.

Natalia had been keeping pressure on a wound on her arm. There was blood, but Natalia would heal. She'd live. It didn't mean that she didn't need help, though.

"Take her, we'll cover you," Calleigh told Horatio.

"Calleigh—"

She had a feeling that he'd argue. Horatio was going to play with 'kid gloves' with her as far as on the job with her for a while if she stayed at work. "Go!" she argued. Calleigh and Ryan both popped up over the palate and fired. They made sure that Horatio and Natalia were given the time they needed to get away.

Calleigh was counting her expended rounds. She didn't have many more. She'd brought another magazine already full, but she still had a few shots left. "I'm going to need to reload," she told Ryan.

"I'm almost out, too."

"Down!" Calleigh told him, so that she could reload. She found Ryan taking her gun and placing his in her hands quicker than she thought possible. She was sure that her perception was just blurred because of the adrenaline running through her system. Before she could think to give Ryan the clip, she was back up firing, the man had taken the opportunity to move and was still trying to fire on Horatio and Natalia.

"Go!" Calleigh yelled at Horatio.

He wasn't going to listen. Horatio wasn't just going to leave them there. He was trying to fire, too, but with his position he was more vulnerable to being hit.

"Where's the magazine?" Ryan asked her.

"Jacket pocket," Calleigh said. She felt Ryan fishing it out, but then didn't pay any attention past that.

"Ready," Ryan announced after a moment.

Calleigh ducked back down behind the palate. "You're out," Calleigh told him as she handed him his gun back and took hers. She removed the safety and got ready to move. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"I want you to just run," Calleigh told him. "Horatio and I will cover you."

"Calleigh—"

"I swear if one more person tries to argue with me, I'm going to smack them," Calleigh said. It was more a general statement, but she meant it to Ryan Wolfe as a warning as well. She'd trained the younger CSI, but he wasn't one of those to be especially proud of. Ryan Wolfe was a very flawed man and though she worked with him, she wasn't sure how much she could trust him anymore.

"Go now!" she said and popped up and started to shoot. She could hear Horatio's shots and the occasional shot from the house. Calleigh kept Ryan in the corner of her eye as she made her way back towards where she'd originally come from.

Horatio's shot.

Suspect's shot.

Calleigh aimed her gun and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. She knew that there was more ammo than that in the magazine that she'd had loaded in her pocket. She pulled the trigger again.

She felt a piercing searing pain and then heard the shot. Calleigh tried to stay upright, but found her body betraying her. Her fingers slackened and her gun dropped to the ground. She staggered for a moment, but then found herself falling as well. The heat and pain radiated from the gunshot wound outward. She could feel the pain and heat at her fingertips even though she'd been shot in the chest.

Stay awake.

She tried to obey her own wishes. She couldn't pass out. Calleigh knew that if she lost too much blood and she passed out that she could fall into a coma, though a coma could happen anyway just the same. Calleigh was trying to keep her senses alive and functioning.

Move.

Calleigh couldn't move, but she managed to move her arm up to the wound and press down. The pain radiated and it intensified, but she kept the pressure there.

"Get Natalia out of here," she could hear Horatio ordering. "Tell Frank to keep everyone behind that gate until I say otherwise."

"Horatio—" she heard Ryan argue like he had with her.

"Now!" Horatio yelled.

Gunshots continued and she tried to concentrate on them, trying to differentiate the shots and the calibers. She found herself being dragged; Calleigh focused her eyes and saw blue eyes staring down at hers.

"You're going to be okay, Sweetheart," Horatio told her.

He moved her hand back to where she'd put it originally. He placed her other hand on top of it to add to the pressure. She wasn't sure whether he was saying it because it was true or just to comfort her. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She wasn't supposed to die. There wasn't supposed to be another funeral.

Gunshots.

She could see Horatio ducking down and a moment later, he was using his body to cover hers.

"I'll be right back," he told her.

The man was trying to run was all that she could figure out and Horatio soon left her to run after him. She was left alone, but she tried to hold on. She waited and tried to think of the weapons in the locker back at ballistics. Their names and their calibers. Calleigh could hear footfalls muffled by the grass and rolled her head to the side thinking that it was Horatio, that he'd returned from a different direction. "Horatio..." she whispered, but when her eyes focused she blinked again.

"Hold on."

..............................

TBC...


	2. angel of mine

**Title:** State of Reality  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "CSI: Miami" or its characters, CBS does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** Calleigh must come to grips with the loss of another member of the team, but in the process is faced with losing her own life...  
**Warning:** character death; possible spoilers for season (you never know for sure if the spoilers you read are actually true)

**Chapter 2 – "Angel of Mine"**

**Author's Note: **Okay, so I made sure to write an "innocent eyes" chapter, so that it's fairish that I write this. I actually have more than just the chapter, but it just needs work and hopefully this laptop holds long enough for me to make it back to California, so I can back it all up before it tries to crash again. Gotta love when it happens because of Windows Vista updates...

.......................

"_Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not yet understood"- Henry Miller_

**Unknown Location**

I had died.

They always say that when you die, you see your life flash before your eyes...that there's a bright white light...that all your loved ones would be waiting for you. My life didn't flash before my eyes. I didn't walk towards a white light. I expected to see my grandmother...she wasn't who I saw.

Timothy Speedle.

She could remember hearing about his death and then arriving on the scene. How hard it had been. His funeral and how difficult it had been to lose one of their own, a friend. Though, of all of those who had fallen in the line of duty during her service as a CSI, he was probably the most welcoming to wake up to.

"Hey Calleigh."

His voice sounded the same. She found herself smiling up at him. She'd missed him. Speed had been a good friend and a good CSI even though he had never learned to clean his weapon. Everyone had flaws, but his had cost him his life.

"Hello," she greeted.

"How are you feeling?"

He sounded concerned. Calleigh shook her head a bit and tried to clear the feel of fuzziness from her head. "I'm—" she started and wondered why it should matter what she felt if she was dead. She started to sit up and then fell back down with a groan.

Pain.

She shouldn't feel pain. "I hurt," she found herself blurting out. Things didn't make sense. Calleigh's head spun as she tried to make sense of everything. Nothing made sense. Maybe she was in a coma? Calleigh couldn't be sure exactly sure what was going on, but she was sure of one thing.

She wasn't dead.

If she were dead, then she wouldn't feel any pain. She definitely felt pain. Speed was dead. So, therefore she wasn't awake. She was either dreaming or she was in a coma. Calleigh really wasn't sure which she favored.

Closing her eyes, she tried to clear her mind and remember. Horatio had said he'd be right back, she'd been shot and he'd ordered everyone else to stay back. She didn't blame him for that, she didn't want anyone else shot either. She still wasn't sure why her gun had stopped firing.

"Calleigh—"

"You're not real," Calleigh responded quickly without thinking. How could he be? It didn't make sense. He'd died. Horatio had been there when Speed's gun had jammed and he'd been shot and killed on scene. She'd stood with Horatio, Eric, and Alexx at his funeral. Tim Speedle was dead.

"It's a long story, Cal," he responded. "Are you in pain? I can have someone give you something for it."

She wasn't sure what to think. Whether to play along with this vivid dream she was having or to just ignore him. Of course, lying there doing nothing was going to get old and fast. Calleigh opened her eyes and looked back to Speed. "You're dead," she told him.

"It was supposed to look like it," he admitted.

"Alexx did the autopsy."

"No, she didn't," Speed corrected. "They were able to get my heart going, but gave me something so that I appeared to be dead. I didn't want to do that to the team, but they needed me and I needed to seem dead."

"Who's they?" Calleigh challenged. She didn't understand why she'd conjure up Speed instead of Eric. She thought that she could more feasibly take the story she was being fed from him rather than the man in front of her.

"Look, Calleigh," Speed said. "I really can't explain it. They're going to let me go from service with them. I was in town on...business...and I've been keeping track of everything..."

Calleigh watched as Speed's face softened and sadness overtook him. She could imagine what the next words out of his mouth would be. Eric. Was that the only reason he'd been around though? Had he come to attend Eric's funeral? She imagined that he could easily stand across from her and she wouldn't have ever noticed, he hadn't changed so much but he'd still changed and she wouldn't have been looking for him.

"I'm so sorry about Eric," he said.

"I still don't believe that you're alive," Calleigh told him. She knew that Eric was dead; it didn't mean that he was real. If she was in a coma, then he was a figment of her imagination and would know everything she knew because he would be a part of her.

"The funeral is today."

Calleigh froze and thought about it. He was right. Eric's funeral. She closed her eyes and tried to keep the tears at bay. She was never thrilled to attend a funeral, but they were often something that helped with the grieving process and ultimately to move on with their life.

Tears pricked at her eyes and she couldn't keep them at bay. They rolled down her cheeks, leaving wet trails. She closed her eyes and turned away from him. She felt horrible that she'd be missing his funeral. Worst of all, she was wherever she was...people were worrying about her. She didn't want to be a burden on any of them.

"Do you want to go?"

"Go?" Calleigh asked confused and opened her eyes to look at him.

"The doctor's removed the bullet and as long as you take it easy and probably agree to take some pain medication, you can go," he offered. "You can go home. Horatio will be happy to see you."

"He had to leave me," Calleigh said. "I know that he probably feels guilty."

"I snuck in and took you before he got back," Speed said. "I was too afraid that you'd lose too much blood if you were left there for too long. No one needs a second funeral."

"No," Calleigh said quietly. "They don't."

"So?" he asked.

"I don't have anything to wear," she found herself saying. It sounded stupid...conceded, but she was pretty sure that the clothes she'd been wearing before had been tossed since she had a bullet hole through small pieces and blood all over the others.

Speed laughed for a second. "They went out and got you some. You have appropriate clothing for the funeral if you want to go," he told her. "Otherwise I can escort you to Dade Memorial."

"I'd rather not go back to a hospital," Calleigh told him. "I'd like to pay my respects, if I can."

"Sure."

..........................

**Cemetery  
**  
It didn't feel like a dream, but Calleigh didn't know how else to think of it. The weather was typical of Florida, though Calleigh thought that it was ironic that the weather seemed to mirror her feelings. The sky was filled with dark clouds that were slowly pouring down onto all of the mourners.

Whoever Speed was working for had gone out and gotten her a black blazer, grey blouse, black slacks, and black heels. It had all fit perfectly and she'd been given a dose of pain medication that would help to keep the pain away enough so that she could be on her feet at the funeral. Speed had her arm as they headed away from the dark vehicle he'd driven them there in, his other hand held an umbrella to keep the rain off of them. He wore a completely black suit with a fedora; Calleigh could only imagine that it was to keep his identity from pulling too much attention away from the funeral.

They walked slowly towards the gathered crowd. It didn't look like it had started, though Calleigh imagined that she'd missed different parts of the funeral. With his family being so religious, she was sure that they'd had a church ceremony as well. At the very least, she could be there now. She knew that that was something.

As they got closer, she recognized people that were gathered. Alexx, Frank, Natalia, and Ryan she quickly spotted. She kept her head down, almost ashamed to be there, she'd most likely worried them with her disappearance. After a moment, she realized something, she hadn't seen Horatio. Frowning, Calleigh lifted her head and scanned the gathering crowd as the ceremony started. She knew that Horatio wouldn't miss the funeral.

"Calleigh."

"Horatio," she said looking to her left side to see that he'd crept up behind them.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "I'm sorry if I worried y'all."

"It's not her fault," Speed spoke up.

Horatio smiled. "I'm just glad that she's okay...and of course, that you are."

"We can talk after," Calleigh said quietly.

The ceremony was filled with the priest talking about Eric and his loyalty to both justice and to God. It had been quickly followed by a prayer. They waited together to walk to pay their respects, being the very last to do so.

As they turned away from the closed casket, Speed guided Calleigh carefully and closely towards Horatio as they walked. "The doctors have removed the bullet."

"Do you have it?" Horatio questioned.

The rest was a blur as she felt pain shoot through her. She crumpled between the two of them and felt both pairs of arms guide her to a sitting position. The position didn't help with the pain. She groaned.

"Calleigh!"

"Calleigh!"

"Calleigh!"

Each voice belonged to someone different, but Calleigh just blinked because her vision was blurring. "I'm okay," she said trying to stop the fuss.

"I'm not stupid, Baby... You're not okay."

Alexx.

Alexx was there. She'd given away their position, she'd given away Speed. She hadn't meant to. She thought that she'd be able to make it back to the vehicle, but the ceremony had felt like it had lasted for some time.

"You need to be in a hospital."

"I don't want a hospital," Calleigh argued with Alexx.

"You'll do as Alexx says," Speed spoke up.

Calleigh felt herself being scooped up and into someone's arms. She wasn't sure who's she was in, but they were strong and holding her tightly. She gave up and closed her eyes, taking comfort that she was safe with Horatio and Alexx and even Speed.

..............................

**Dade Memorial Hospital**

Calleigh awoke in the hospital. It wasn't a place that she was thrilled about being, but she felt relieved when she saw Horatio sitting by her side. She was finally awake. Awake from the dream. She smiled at him. "Hello Handsome."

"Hello Sweetheart, how are you feeling?" he asked with a smile.

"A little sore," she admitted. "I had a crazy dream..."

"She's awake?"

Her head quickly turned when she recognized the voice. She had thought she'd woken up, but she obviously hadn't. Tim Speedle was still there. Her head started to spin.

"I'm not awake," Calleigh said quickly as she tried to sit up, she didn't sit up all the way because of the pain, though the pain was less than it had been before.

"You are," Horatio told her.

She felt Horatio's hand take hers and she stared down at it. She didn't know whether or not to believe it. His hand felt real enough, but she wasn't sure what to believe. "But Speed—"

"Concentrate on getting better," Horatio tried.

His voice was soothing and she was thankful that he was there, no matter if it was real or just a coma-induced dream. His hand gently caressed her cheek and she closed her eyes, but tears fell. She could remember how Eric would be so gentle with her.

"You should sleep," he told her.

She nodded, but key her eyes closed. Calleigh turned over onto her side and tried to sleep. A bit of pain shot up through her, but she ignored it and tried to think of safe, happy times...

"Sleep well," Horatio said quietly.

...............................

TBC...


End file.
